The Democrats’ plan for Medicare is to oppose whatever reforms the Republicans are proposing, as Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz makes clear when asked during an interview what the Democrat plan for Medicare is.

Smith: But the Trustees also said a couple of Fridays ago that this thing (Medicare) could be insolvent in the next decade. Doesn’t something really dramatic have to happen, and as the Congressman suggested, Republicans have a plan, do the Democrats have a plan?

Wasserman Schultz: Like I said, the Republicans have a plan to end Medicare as we know it. What they would do is they would take the people who are younger than 55 years old today and tell them You know what? You’re on your own. Go and find private health insurance in the healthcare insurance market, we’re going to throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for pre-existing conditions. We’re going to give you X amount of dollars and you figure it out.

Whether we like it or not, at some point we have to concede that the Medicare program cannot pay for an unlimited amount of health care for those enrolled at the program. There has to be limitations on the amount of care provided, otherwise the program will eat our already red-ink national budget alive. Rationing, in other words.

You cannot provide an infinite supply or something on a finite budget.

So the question is, who should be in charge of the rationing? What the Obama administration has proposed is a panel of government experts deciding what sort of care Medicare recipients should get and how much of that care they can access.

The Ryan plan gives Medicare recipients their share of Medicare money and allows them to pursue their own care. The Ryan plan empowers the individuals. The Democrats would empower the government to make all the decisions.

I’m not convinced that the Ryan plan is the fix for Medicare. Under his plan, recipients would still only be allowed to choose from among plans approved by the government. There would still be limits and regulations imposed by the government, so no truly free market, but the Ryan plan is a big improvement over the status quo and certainly better than where Democrats would take the program.

Rob Port is the editor of SayAnythingBlog.com. In 2011 he was a finalist for the Watch Dog of the Year from the Sam Adams Alliance and winner of the Americans For Prosperity Award for Online Excellence. In 2013 the Washington Post named SAB one of the nation's top state-based political blogs, and named Rob one of the state's best political reporters.

Ultimately, conservatives will win the argument on Medicare, but who will want to plant the flag on that pile of rubble?

Brent

She’s a real piece of work already, isn’t she?

http://randysroundtable.blogspot.com/ Randy G

Rob, the Democrats have been promising an infinite amount of everything on a finite budget for my entire lifetime(54 years now). Schultze is just another no nothing. No plan, no budget(759 days?)…

Dakotacyr

You think that just the democrats don’t like Ryan’s bad plan, not even the republicans like it either. It is a bad plan and puts the elderly on fixed incomes in a bad place. The public hates it overwhelmingly.

sbark

……and QE1 and QE2 from Obama’s regime that drove int. rates on senior citizens savings down to 1.25% didnt put the “elderly on fixed incomes in a bad place” ???????????

That is essentially a huge tax, a massive method by the left to redistribute income from elderly with lifes savings …and then into banks hands who were then able to simply put the money into investment vehicles with 4% return ………….to let them recover from the Dem’cats Fannie mae meltdown of 2008………..

Ryans plan doesnt hurt anyone over age 55…………….

When do the dem’cats start their age old bovine special of marching crying seniors in front of the media ………….

The dem’cats seem to prefer the entire system crash to trying to change one of thier “rail” programs……no diff. than Fannie Mae……….we know how that worked out.

The Left could give a rip about senior citizens………..they want the power,control and money flow thru their greasy fingers their “social” programs give them.

Dakotacyr

You seem incapable of realizing that seniors don’t like the plan and those approaching that age don’t like the Ryan plan and no one likes the plan. Dems and republicans alike don’t like the plan.

And you seem incapable of realizing that the crash and first bailout bailout occurred under the Bush administration or does your memory only go back to November 2008?

sbark

….and how many times did GW attempt to reform Fannie Mae…….several——Fannie mae is a dem’cat problem, as is all of our nations present problems——Lib Dem’cats are simply the problem.
Fannie Mae was a problem started by Carter, accelerated by Clinton….and protected by Dodd, Frank and Reid…………

Liberalism……….doing the same thing over and over again, not changing a thing: Definition of Insanity……..another reason why Liberalism is the problem…….the rest of the stuff is just day to day talking points to fill blog space.

Are you “incapable” of using bing or google to research things vrs. just accept state run media and DNC talking points………….

I guess one has to want to emcumbred with some level of facts in order to leave the status of ignorant.

robert108

Since the Ryan plan doesn’t affect anyone presently on Medicare, you are pushing the Dem/MSM lie about it. Much easier for you than to do what’s best for America and cut spending while not raising taxes. That’s what we need.
It took about thirty years, since Carter started it, for the Dem affirmative action home loan mandates to crash that market, and then a Marxist exploited that downturn to try to collectivize America. All he did was to delay the recovery with his misguided Marxist economic approach. Forcible redistribution of wealth produces economic stagnation.
I guess you’re one of those superstitious liberals who believe that coincidence equals causation.

Neiman

The tear stained faces of Democrats now complain that everyone under 55 will be thrown to the wolves, no SS or Medicare, they’ll have to invest privately risking no retirement at all and face the avarice of the insurance company thieves.

We desperately need to push Ryan and other competent, well informed GOP communicator types forward with the truth 108 or the lies of the Democrats will gain traction, enough to defeat the GOP entirely. This is a campaign of lies and without any plan of their own, the GOP they say will have nothing to attack. In other words they win by default.

Dakotacyr

I see you are taking your check Neiman!

Neiman

How do you know?

If I am, and it is none of your business, your liberal government took money out of my paycheck/pocket for many decades, why don’t I have a right to get it back? Or, do you thieving liberals have a right to keep it for yourselves?

Camsaure

WTF!, He was forced to pay into it wasn’t he? Why then should,t he recieve a check? Just because he disagrees with a pozi scheme he was forced into most likely against his will? You and the rest of your Marxist friends still continue to amaze me. What a sorry ass argument you come up with dakotacryer!

Dakotacyr

so I guess as long as you get yours, impregnator 108, we shouldn’t care about those who will not be able to afford the medicare privatization costs.

And keep yapping about dems are to blame for everything wrong with the country, blah,blah,yada yada.

http://flamemeister.com flamemeister

Liking or not liking Medicare reform is totally irrelevant to what is going to happen. Dakotacyr’s infantile “liking” and “not liking” reminds me of a little kid faced with eating string beans or starving. “But mommy! I hate them!! Waaaaaahhhh!!!” Adults walk to where they are going to get dragged anyway.

DopeyDem

The Dems can’t and won’t have a plan until December 2012.

Neiman

What angers me most is that I do not detect that the establishment GOP, the leadership, supports the Ryan Plan at all; because IMO, they really do not want any change at all to a better system, they are mostly satisfied with the status quo and they want to allow the Ryan or any real plan to save Medicare and Social Security to die a slow death of a thousands knives.

It also anger me that so many so-called conservatives are not demanding the GOP educate and send out their best people to sell the Ryan Plan or some version thereof, people knowledgeable and able to communicate in clear sound bites the real facts about the real trouble this country is in and how we have a plan to repair our economy. But, failing by lack of guts to shout down the establishment GOP leaders, when the plan dies and some GOP’s are defeated, they will all bitch and moan about the present system and how we are going bankrupt and how unfair the Democrats are to attack any changes at all. That is all we do is bitch and moan.

Let’s face facts, very few conservatives really believe we are in trouble in this country, they cannot believe it and not be damn angry about how poorly the GOP is responding, how disorganized and feckless they are. right now. I say we should be mad as hell and not take it anymore and lead a real revolution against the Marxist-Communist Left in economic and even moral change, otherwise we are lost. Let me tell you that under the tyranny of a Democrat/Marxist State we will not be allowed to complain, we will shut up or die.

banjo kid

Then I will die .

mikemc1970

Typical Liberal. Attack with lies. All while putting no solutions forward themselves.

borborygmi

All while putting no solutions forward themselves. Thats the shame. Clinton /Ryan conversation was spot on. Conservatives just have to keep on running that clip

tony_o2

What “wolves” is she talking about? I thought Obamacare was supposed to take care of those pesky insurance hustlers?

banjo kid

I have this feeling that the whole melt down scenario was just a cover to rip the funds away from medicare and social security . What better way to take away the promise of 40 to 50 years of work while taking the money and spending it like a drunken sailor . If any one here does not think putting your hard earned money into an account for 40 to 50 years and having it taken from you when you are most vulnerable is not harmful, then we have no hope in this country . This does not have to end as a Madoff deal .

banjo kid

I also believe that the Ryan plan would work although slower to set the age at 35 and not 55. Ten years is not enough time to adjust , it took more than ten years to screw up the system so it will take more time to fix it .

Camsaure

Maybe, but the problem is I don’t think we have that much time, nor could we trust politicians for that long.

banjo kid

One wonders what the answer will be as if you invest your money by paying a tax you get screwed and if you bank invest it you get the same out come albeit quicker but you still lose.

SAB is an Amazon Affiliate. Shop using the widget above and help keep this blog going.